Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira

Managing the health effects of climate change

Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Effects of climate change on health will affect most populations in the next decades and put the lives and wellbeing of billions of people at increased risk. During this century, earthﾒs average surface temperature rises are likely to exceed the safe threshold of 2ﾰC above preindustrial average temperature. Rises will be greater at higher latitudes, with medium-risk scenarios predicting 2ﾖ3ﾰC rises by 2090 and 4ﾖ5ﾰC rises in northern Canada, Greenland, and Siberia. In this report, we have outlined the major threatsﾗboth direct and indirectﾗto global health from climate change through changing patterns of disease, water and food insecurity, vulnerable shelter and human settlements, extreme climatic events, and population growth and migration. Although vector-borne diseases will expand their reach and death tolls, especially among elderly people, will increase because of heatwaves, the indirect effects of climate change on water, food security, and extreme climatic events are likely to have the biggest effect on global health.

Governmental responses to tourism development: three Brazilian case studies.

Abstract This article examines how and why governments responded to actual or potential investments in tourism development in terms of strategies for environmental management. Three case studies were selected in the Brazilian Northeast to examine how development in the tourism sector created change in environmental policy and management at local level. Government strategies were managed by different jurisdictions of government and had diverse interactions with civil society and external actors. From the case studies, the most typical responses of local and regional governments could be divided into four groups: (a) building institutional capacity, (b) investing in environmental projects, (c) controlling development and tourist flow, and (d) creating protected areas. The article analyzes under what conditions governments tend to adopt each of the different strategies.

Planning Innovations in Land Management and Governance in Fragmented Rural Areas: Two Examples from Galicia (Spain)

Land fragmentation can be an important drawback for the development of rural areas. Due to the small size of the units, land management and planning are difficult from both the private and the public point of view. In some regions of Europe, land fragmentation can lead to the collapse of land-based activities such as agriculture and forestry. This process triggers land abandonment, which causes social, economic and environmental problems. Traditional interventions such as land consolidation have not worked because of the scale of land fragmentation, which leads to huge transaction costs. New planning instruments and governance structures for land management that balance the relations between property rights, management and labour force can be developed, in order to avoid the problems of land fragmentation. In this paper, we present two innovative examples of land management and governance structures for dealing with land fragmentation in rural areas of Galicia northwestern Spain. They were able to combine the use of individual and common property rights to make land use more sustainable, instead of trying to change land ownership. The new governance structures helped to increase efficiency and sustainability of the land use by, for example, increasing labour productivity, clarifying property rights and diminishing land abandonment.

Global Value Chains and Social Upgrading of Clusters: Lessons from Two Cases of Fair Trade in the Brazilian Northeast

This article analyses how cluster integration in global value chains affects social upgrading processes in two local industrial districts in the agro-industrial sector (oil for cosmetics and organic honey) located in the Northeast of Brazil, which are both involved in fair trade relations with foreign clients. Several lessons are drawn on the basis of these case studies in relation to how economic upgrading can be aligned with social upgrading in local cluster settings. We conclude that global value chain linkages cannot alone explain the social upgrading processes that we observe in these cases. The presence of strong local organizations was key in driving social upgrading processes both prior to and after the insertion of both industrial clusters into the global economy.

Environmental Management, Climate Change, CSR, and Governance in Clusters of Small Firms in Developing Countries: Toward an Integrated Analytical Framework

One of the key debates in the literature on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries has to do with the role that local industrial districts, or so-called industrial clusters, play in the promotion of CSR in those countries. While there is now an embryonic literature on this subject, we lack systematic, integrated analytical frameworks that can improve our understanding of the role that governance of clusters play in addressing CSR concerns in SMEs in developing countries. This article develops such a conceptual framework drawing on the literatures on cluster governance, CSR, SMEs, and environmental management (EM) as they relate to the developing countries. The authors argue that environmental improvements in SME clusters can be achieved through three basic types of cluster governance: legal enforcement, supply chain pressure, and voluntary engagement in CSR. The proposed framework is an attempt to show how each type of cluster governance is likely to induce different responses in cluster-based SMEs. These responses are related to stages of CSR in which SMEs engage, the barriers to EM they face, the types of EM practices they use, the climate change strategy types they use, and the kinds of benefits that accrue to SMEs from engagement in CSR. The authors put foward a framework that can be useful for both academics and practitioners as they seek to reflect on the interconnectedness of these themes from a research, policy, and practice perspective.

Understanding the links between urban regeneration and climate-friendly urban development: lessons from two case studies in Japan

Urban regeneration policy and projects could facilitate the implementation of spatial policy responses to mitigate climate change and adapt to its consequences in cities. However, the potential role of urban regeneration in creating climate-friendly urban environments is not sufficiently evaluated and understood. Considering this gap, the paper aims to explore the potential linkage between urban regeneration and climate change. The case study analysis focuses on two urban regeneration projects, representing two major approaches of regeneration practices in Japanese cities, namely “project-based” and “plan-based” approaches. Research findings demonstrate that urban regeneration could help in reorganising existing urban areas in a climate-friendly manner. As a cross-cutting field of urban policy, urban regeneration could also help in creating synergies between mitigation and adaptation goals. Yet, achievement of such outcomes via regeneration projects necessitates the existence of an overriding urban development vision, political commitment, and willingness to implement binding and structural measures.

Innovating in sub-national climate policy: the mandatory emissions reduction scheme in Tokyo

This study analyses the drivers behind the policy-making and implementation of the recently developed climate policies in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG). In 2010, the TMG introduced a mandatory CO2 emission reduction and a cap-and-trade scheme; the worlds first such scheme that sets binding targets for buildings. The research was carried out through reviews of the published and unpublished literature, surveys and face-to-face interviews with various stakeholders involved in the policy process. The essential components that enabled successful policy-making and implementation of the scheme in Tokyo are revealed, such as the administrative leadership and the capacity of the TMG administration, the availability of historical data supporting the policy discussions and the gradual and flexible implementation mechanisms. The article concludes with recommendations for future improvements in the TMG and beyond. Policy relevance This article presents the lessons from the recent advancements in climate policy in Tokyo, particularly the worlds first mandatory city-scale emission reduction and cap-and-trade scheme that includes buildings. The scheme was relatively effective as the total GHG emissions were reduced by 23% on average from the base years and 10% below the average of other parts of the country before the end of the first compliance period of five years (2010–2014). The policy innovations from the worlds largest city and the capital of Japan can inform sub-national governments about the potential barriers and opportunities for introducing mandatory GHG emissions reductions.

Urban governance and the systems approaches to health-environment co-benefits in cities

“Co-beneficios” e um termo que se refere aos impactos positivos de uma politica alem do que se era esperado inicialmente. No contexto urbano, politicas executadas em um setor especifico (como transporte, energia ou residuos) frequentemente podem gerar multiplos co-beneficios em outras areas, como reducao dos impactos ambientais globais e locais, e se extendendo a saude publica. Um ponto chave para se poder identificar e gerar co-beneficios e adotar a abordagem por sistemas para entender as ligacoes inter-setoriais. Esta abordagem tambem pode ajudar no entendimento de como podemos melhorar um setor especifico e a governanca urbana em geral. Assim, este artigo faz uma revisao da literatura de varias politicas que geram co-beneficios climaticos e de saude em diversos setores e ilustra atraves de uma serie de casos como a abordagem por sistemas pode levar a inovacoes em governanca urbana que levem ao desenvolvimento de cidades mais sustentaveis e saudaveis.

Governance and networks for health co-benefits of climate change mitigation: Lessons from two Indian cities

Health has been the main driver for many urban environmental interventions, particularly in cases of significant health problems linked to poor urban environmental conditions. This paper examines empirically the links between climate change mitigation and health in urban areas, when health is the main driver for improvements. The paper aims to understand how systems of urban governance can enable or prevent the creation of health outcomes via continuous improvements in the environmental conditions in a city. The research draws on cases from two Indian cities where initiatives were undertaken in different sectors: Surat (waste) and Delhi (transportation). Using the literature on network effectiveness as an analytical framework, the paper compares the cases to identify the possible ways to strengthen the governance and policy making process in the urban system so that each intervention can intentionally realize multiple impacts for both local health and climate change mitigation in the long term as well as factors that may pose a threat to long-term progress and revert back to the previous situation after initial achievements.

International environmental agreements between developing countries only: learning from the Brazil–Uruguay case over the suspicion of acid rain

This article is about the process of negotiation and implementation of a bilateral environmental agreement between two developing countries. It analyzes the case of the Act of Jaguarão between Brazil and Uruguay on assessing the risk of transboundary air pollution by the President Medici (UTPM) coal-powered thermo-electrical facility in the Candiota region of southern Brazil. The article adds to the scarce literature on international environmental conflict resolution and negotiations between developing countries, especially in Latin America. First, it explains that even with the asymmetry of power between Brazil and Uruguay, negotiation was possible due to a series of factors, such as the interest of Brazilian environmental agencies in improving the monitoring of emissions from UTPM and the international scrutiny of Brazil prior to the upcoming Rio-92 Earth Summit. Both states obtained mutual gains from the agreement by developing ‘joint fact finding’ research and monitoring. Second, different from most of the mainstream literature, the research reveals that weaknesses in institutional agreements, such as a lack of sanctions or deadlines, were not an implementation impediment. In fact, the very weaknesses of the agreement actually enabled authorities in both countries to cooperate in the development of an acid rain monitoring program in the Candiota region, and as a result, to improve air monitoring capacities in both countries. Third, this research shows that the implementation process (1991–2003) produced different results and impacts: it helped to develop technical capacities of environmental agencies in both countries, increased the political power of Brazilian environmental agencies to control UTPM, and pushed for behavioral changes to enable UTPM to respond to the demands of both governments.